3rd Grade Read Aloud: The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins

In recognition of Read Across America, I am taking March to share some of my best experiences reading aloud to students in my school. As a principal, I believe it is imperative that I get into classrooms on a daily basis and model this lifelong skill. The time I spent teaching third grade led me to believe that it is a pinnacle year for both student and teacher. As a student, the expectations in academics, especially in math, are raised. For teachers, third grade opens up a whole new world of literature to share with kids. This combination is a great opportunity to read aloud more complex literature that ties in the other content areas. Before Reading Aloud Ask students what they know about Dr. Seuss' writing style. They may suggest he likes to rhyme, his illustrations are very colorful, he uses zany and made up words, and his writing is geared toward younger kids. It might be wise to write down their responses to refer back to later. Explain that The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins is a departure from Dr. Seuss' other books. Ask students to look for these differences as you read. During the Read Aloud As Bartholomew starts racking up the number of hats he has taken off at the King's request, use the running totals to pose some mental math problems. For example, "When Bartholomew arrived, Sir Alaric counted 45 hats in the Throne Room. The King and Bartholomew mentioned that there are an additional 90 hats in town. How many total hats are there?". Give students time to process this problem before asking for responses.

Let students talk to each other about their answers before sharing with the whole group. Ask for several responses before providing the correct answer. For those that got it right, ask them the process they used. Share your own, such as counting up to easy numbers. Continue to pose problems when the story presents them. After Reading Aloud Go back to the list students made about what many of Dr. Seuss' books have in common. Contrast that list to this book and have students identify the differences. Ask students if they could relate to this story a little more than other books by the author. They might surprise you with a response of how the King reminds them of an adult they know who doesn't listen to them (not you, of course). Special note: When I shared this with 3rd graders last week, a student asked me how I read those weird words. I didn't understand his question at first. Then I realized he was inquiring about the process I used to decode, understand and then speak the words aloud. I explained that when readers get better at reading through lots of practice, they can read the words ahead of time before they actually get to the word to be read aloud. This question reminded me to be more explicit about the process I use as a reader. Demystifying this skill and attributing it to doing lots of reading is what emerging readers need to hear.